


A Peanut Butter Sandwich and Cranberry Juice

by but_im_danger



Series: My Baby [1]
Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: Adoption, F/M, Fluff, I promise, Infertility, Mentions of Sex, Oh, Professor AU, Steggy - Freeform, bucky is an oprhan, can't get pregnant, college professor au, he's so stinkin cute oh my god, i literally cried whilst writing this, just in thinking about why children would be up for adoption, just mentions nothing graphic, nothing graphic, rape is mentioned briefly but to no one in particular, really this is shameless fluff, sam wilson defense squad, steggy parents, steve and peg are history profs, teaching au, tiny ansgt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-15
Updated: 2016-05-15
Packaged: 2018-06-08 16:00:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,894
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6861940
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/but_im_danger/pseuds/but_im_danger
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Peggy's always wanted to be a mother. Steve's always wanted to be a father. Sometimes to get to your goals, you run into some unexpected hurtles and end up in a completely different situation than you imagined.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Peanut Butter Sandwich and Cranberry Juice

Steve and Peggy sat silently in the car, both staring out the windshield, both in tears, but neither knowing quite what to say. This appointment had a lot riding on it, and to find out the truth of the matter was…heartbreaking, to say the least. Without having to look, Steve threaded his fingers through Peggy’s, giving her hand a small, half-hearted squeeze. It was all he could really do given the circumstances. He loved Peggy… he loved her more than anything, and he needed her too, more than air, he’d argue. And he knew that Peggy knew that, and he knew that she needed to hear it at a time like this.

“I love you,” he said, voice hoarse, a mere croak of his normal tone.

“And I love you,” Peggy murmured back, eyes still staring out the windshield, seemingly a hundred miles away, or perhaps even in a different world. But she did manage to give his hand a small squeeze in return, and that little assurance meant more to Steve than anything else. They would be okay… even with this massive wrench into their plan…their lifelong plan, they would be okay. Steve and Peggy were survivors.

“I…I’m sorry,” Peggy said, voice so much more weak than he’d ever heard it before. “I should have known.” A tear rolled down her cheek, one that Steve was quick to wipe away. He cradled her face in his hands, kissing the cheek where the tear had been, though she still stared straight ahead. For a fleeting second, he worried that she was too ashamed to look at him. The thought nearly made him feel worse than their results.

“Peg, look at me,” Steve breathed out softly, his minty breath tickling the hair by her ear. It took a moment, Peggy just slowly blinked those big doe-like eyes while looking out the windshield, but then she looked at him, eyes still swimming with tears and devastation written all over her face. “We’re gonna get through this… It’s not your fault… there’s nothing for you to apologize to me for,” Steve said, sincerity dripping off his every word.

Peggy knew her husband was telling her the truth. In her heart of hearts, her logical mind, she knew that none of this was because of her. But that didn’t mean it still didn’t hurt. The pain she was feeling rivaled any other she’d felt in her entire life. She wasn’t sure she could survive this heartbreak until she looked to the man sitting next to her. With his blue eyes, determined, set jaw, and beautiful, worried brow, she knew that she could survive it. Steve was by her side for this one, and everything else.

While she collected herself a little, Steve couldn’t help but admire her beauty. Her barely longer than shoulder length brown curls were pulled back into a ponytail, bangs clipped with some bobby pins. The makeup around her eyes, usually light to begin with, was nearly gone, as she’d cried it all away. Her lips were bitten raw, now a delightful shade of red that was due to soreness and not her usual lipstick. Circles of worry and despair shone under her eyes; Steve knew this, though she would never tell him, but Peggy didn’t sleep the night before. She was too worried about the results of this appointment, she was worried about the very thing that was now their reality. And Steve would never tell Peggy, though she already knew, that he hadn’t slept the night before, either. But still, in the state of tired despair that his wife was in, he thought Peggy looked absolutely breathtaking. Now wasn’t the time to tell her that, though.

It was quiet in the car for a few more moments, just the engine, AC, and low-volume radio filling the silence within Steve’s car. Her breathing was steady again, not shaky like it had been in the doctor’s office. Steve knew that was a sign of her calming down, although he knew this was something she would never totally calm down from.

“Infertile,” Peggy said, and to Steve’s surprise, her voice was strong, normal, and very sure. She smiled sadly and looked down at her lap. “I suppose I’d always known… especially when we had such trouble,” she said, brow furrowing as she remembered the trouble and confusion they’d had getting pregnant. Peggy wanted very much to be a mother. After she and Steve got married, they stopped their usual forms of birth control. He stopped buying condoms and she discontinued her birth control prescription. Though only in their mid and late twenties, the pair knew they wanted to be parents.

But after a few months, Peggy hadn’t gotten pregnant. The sex was incredible, nothing painful, and nothing unusual. But they didn’t have a baby in the works yet. They stayed positive, though, reasoning that these things took time; they couldn’t just expect a baby to happen easily.

When their first year anniversary arrived, Steve planned the Mecca of all romantic weekends for his wife. He took her to an adorable bed and breakfast on a vineyard in California. The two had a lovely time, sightseeing, wine tasting, cheese-eating, and of course, trying for that baby. It was a beautiful weekend, one that both looked back on fondly with slightly pink cheeks although there was still no baby.

After eighteen months, Peggy went to the doctor. There, she was told that it was probably nothing. Apparently, couples had to wait a while to get pregnant; it didn’t normally happen at once. But that didn’t help with her frustration. Knowing that Steve was not and would never get impatient, frustrated, or upset with Peggy, she seemed to take all that he could be upset about and pile it onto herself. For a while, things were hard. Peggy was a little blue, seemingly uninterested in anything not baby related. More than once, she dreamed of a baby with beautiful blue eyes, rosy cheeks, and curly blonde hair.

Steve had tried so hard then to pull her back. She was Peggy, his best friend, his life partner, his wife, and she was too sad to get out of bed some days. They both prefer not to think about the multiple times Steve walked in on Peggy staring at herself in the mirror, eyes focused on her stomach as if asking _“What is wrong with you, why can’t I get pregnant!?”_

Steve researched. He learned how to help Peggy. On days when she couldn’t get out of bed, he’d sit there with her, cancelling their classes for the day. They normally sat in silence but Steve knew and Peggy later confirmed that his presence made it all worth it. He would comb her hair for her, often washing it and pinning it back in bobby pins that Peggy had always been fond of—and it would make sense, too, because her specialty was in the World War Eras. Steve taught himself how to paint fingernails and toenails, he learned how to make the best kind of ice cream sundaes, and he figured out which movies would no doubt put a smile on his girl’s face.

They moved passed it. They didn’t talk about it. It wasn’t like they were ashamed, Steve wasn’t, Peggy wasn’t, but they had moved passed it. The episode couldn’t hurt them anymore, and they had to keep moving. So with her doctor’s help, Peggy planned out her fertility calendar and ovulation schedule. For months, along with their regular sex, the pair would make love at the exact time of day the charts said would most likely lead to pregnancy. Once or twice, this happened in Steve’s office, with his door locked and Peggy in his lap. Students milled about the buildings, colleagues sent emails or made phone calls in the adjoining offices, and Dr. Rogers and Dr. Carter were trying desperately to begin the family they deserved.

But it was all for nothing. Steve and Peggy had been married for two years. He was 29, she 26, and there was no baby for them in their future…at least not one as a product of their love for one another.

Steve squeezed her hand gently again. “There’s no way you could have known,” he said softly.

“I know,” Peggy said immediately, nodding in agreement. “Just feels a little bit better when I can blame it on something instead of just…” she paused, sighing heavily after a moment, “having to accept it.”

“We can get through this, Peg,” said Steve, kissing her face softly, as if he was hoping to make her believe his words based on his kisses alone. “There’s a lot of options.”

Peggy nodded, she was listening, and she agreed with everything Steve said. But, she needed to handle this information first. She needed to grieve a little, needed to mope. In a few days, she’d be fine, though this would always be a sore spot for her. There was no use in her acting strong and tough when she knew there was no way she could have her own family.

“We’ll talk about it, darling,” she said softly, turning to meet Steve’s eyes. “But I think we both need to digest this first.”

“I think you’re right.”

“Aren’t I always?”

 

 

It did take some time, about a few weeks to register that they could not have their own family. It was hard, so hard, and sometimes the littlest things would set one of them into a fit of tears. Peggy wasn’t sure which was worse—the waiting, how unsure they were while they were trying, or the cold, hard truth that they had accepted as their reality. When they were waiting and trying, there was a little bit of hope…actually, there had been a lot of hope, that things would be okay. But now that they knew the truth, there was no use in hoping anymore, and any daydreams about a baby with blue eyes, rosy cheeks, and curly blond hair was all the more painful.

Late one night in June, Steve thought it was safe to bring up the topic of adoption. It had been several weeks since a Gerber’s baby commercial or a diaper commercial had brought him or Peggy to tears, though it still stung a little. Peggy had stopped gazing off sadly for long periods of time, and she and Steve started to make love again. It took some time, but things were slowly more okay than they had been on that fateful April afternoon at the doctor’s.

“Peg?” Steve said softly, putting down the book he had been looking over for his next class.

“Hmm?” she answered, buried deeply in grading one of the assignments she’d assigned for a summer class. She didn’t look at him, but she didn’t need to. Steve couldn’t count how many times he fell in love with her on a daily basis. Her hair was pulled back in that same low ponytail, pesky bangs had been clipped to the side. Reading glasses perched on her nose and she had a small amount of the blue marker she used for grading smudged on her cheek. With her lip caught between her teeth as she concentrated, she couldn’t have looked more beautiful.

“Steve?” Peggy said, looking away from the paper she was grading. Steve smiled a little at her, having been caught admiring her. But really, when Steve was lucky enough to have someone like Peggy, he didn’t think anyone would blame him for that.

“I was thinking… You know, we both have jobs, good pay, good benefits… We’re good people…we live in a good neighborhood, we don’t get in trouble with the law…we…” he sighed deeply, trying to work up the courage to get the words out of his mouth. “We’d be good adoption candidates,” he finished softly. The room was silent then, save for the evening news on the television for background noise.

Steve had been looking into adoption for weeks. He learned all he could, even emailing an adoption agent for more information and to see if they were qualified. It wasn’t like he was doing this behind Peggy’s back—he was simply testing the waters, learning what he could to see how valid their chance at adopting a child would be. If Peggy were to tell him she didn’t want to do that, he would (sadly, of course) let the notion go. He wanted to be ready to ask Peggy, that was all. He wanted to ask her with facts, figures, numbers, and information at his disposal. He wanted it to be an informed question, not one asked while flying by the seat of his pants.

“Adoption,” Peggy said after a moment. It wasn’t a question, it was a statement. Truth be told, she had thought about it, too. Gone through all the same research Steve did, contacted the same adoption agent for information, but she did it on her own, without knowledge of Steve doing the same thing.

She wasn’t worried about Steve being opposed, she knew Steve would do nearly anything to be a father. Her concern lay within herself; she was worried that she wouldn’t be able to take it… essentially, she’d be raising someone else’s child, and that made her irrationally angry. Someone had a child, couldn’t take care of it, and gave it away, while people like Peggy wished for nothing more than her own child.

But that was incredibly close-minded, and she knew that. She knew the circumstances of these children and their parents weren’t ideal, and were very rarely even good. Statistics were very telling—many of the children were products of rape, living in poverty, orphans with no one to take care of them. And once her rage was calmed, Peggy felt sorrow towards these children, for the people who wanted to raise them but couldn’t. It wasn’t easy for them, and she knew that. It had been weeks since she was angry to tears over it; she saw things clearly now.

“Yeah,” Steve said, feeling more confident at her lack of a negative reaction. “Have you thought about it?” Peggy took her reading glasses off, setting them on her bedside table.

“Yes, I’ve thought about it,” She said, looking at Steve. “What do you think?”

Steve didn’t want it to go like this. He’d wanted to ask her first, he didn’t want to force her into anything because it was what she thought he’d want. But he knew Peggy… he knew she wouldn’t do that.

“I think it’s a great idea,” he said honestly, giving her a small, hopeful smile and feeling like he could fly when she grinned back at him.

“I think so too,” she said. Finally, after weeks of wrestling with the idea, after being so unsure for so long, she said it out loud, and she meant it.

“Really?” Steve said, eyes growing brighter and smile getting bigger. “You want to do this?”

“Of course,” Peggy said, taking his hands. “We’ve come this far, haven’t we? We should finish what we started.”

Steve leaned over and kissed her lips, smiling as their lips touched. They wanted to do this. They wanted to adopt a child to raise and love like their very own. Steve couldn’t be more excited, and neither could Peggy.

 

The adoption process seemed to take longer and be more stressful than trying to get pregnant in the first place. Steve and Peggy had to submit to a very extensive background search. Their bank records, health history, family history, taxes, credit score, car insurance policy, literally everything that one could possibly imagine was looked into to make sure the pair were suitable parents. For Steve, it was a minor inconvenience in the road to becoming parents, but Peggy didn’t see it that way.

Peggy saw it as an insult. Logically, of course, she knew it wasn’t meant to be insulting. The adoption agency had to be sure that they were sending this child into a safe, clean, and suitable home. Peggy was fine with everything until the first home check, when the surveyor looked in every nook and cranny of their home. The pair lived in a very nice home in a well-to-do neighborhood. They had four bedrooms, two and a half bathrooms, a living room, a den, a dining room, kitchen, washroom, and a full basement that was in the midst of becoming somewhat of an office space for the couple.

When the surveyor reached the basement, and saw walls not properly dry-walled, abundant dust and some dirt, she gave a disapproving look and said “some changes will have to be made.” And it took all of Peggy’s strength to keep from slapping that woman. Their home was by no means spotless. It was lived in, there was a funky smell in the washroom from time to time (mostly blamed on Steve’s workout clothes), and the basement was sealed off from the rest of the house. All in all, the basement was the only downfall, and it was only because Steve and his best friend Sam had taken a weekend off from working on it.

Later that night, while they were getting ready for bed, Peggy violently brushed her teeth, brow furrowed, staring down at the sink like it had personally keyed her car.

“Peg?” Steve said softly, almost afraid of her anger, as he put his own toothbrush back in its respective holder.

“What?” Peggy said, spitting furiously into the sink.

“If you brush too hard like that, you’ll make your gums bleed,” he said, thinking that attempting to make her smile to diffuse the situation would make things a little easier. And he was right. Peggy sighed, shoulders sagging, rinsing her mouth and wiping her lips in a much gentler way now.

“How dare she say that,” Peggy said, turning to look at Steve. “This is a wonderful home for a child! Every home has a project being worked on, and ours is by far not the messiest one of them,” she said, cheeks turning red as she spoke. She’d kept this in all day, Steve could tell.

“Hey,” he said, putting his arms on her shoulders in a reassuring way. “I’ve already talked to Sam. We’re gonna have the drywall finished, everything vacuumed, and the walls painted by Sunday.” Sam had been all too willing to help Steve out. He loved Steve, and he loved Peggy too, and when Steve passed along how upset Peggy had been over the woman’s reaction the basement, Sam jumped into action, offering up his weekend to his friends. There needed to be more friends like Sam in the world.

“Really?” she asked, eyes softening.

“Really,” Steve confirmed, smiling as he accepted her hug and held her in his arms. It had felt like the end of the world, really, to have that woman comment on their basement like that.

“Thank you,” she murmured.

 

The renovations were completed by Sunday, as promised. Drywall was put up, all the dust was vacuumed out, and the walls were painted a lovely sea-foam green color. Upon Sam’s insistence, they put down a new carpet (Sam had it laying in his attic for some reason), and it turned out to look really nice with the wall and it tied the whole room together. Even with the added project of carpet, Steve and Sam were still done long before Peggy returned from the store.

After they had brought the groceries inside, Steve and Sam led Peggy to the basement, Sam walking behind her, covering her eyes, and Steve in front, hands in hers, leading her down the stairs.

“Okay,” Steve said, once he led Peggy to the center of the room, “open your eyes.”

Sam moved his hands from in front of Peggy’s eyes and her big, brown eyes widened as she took in the room. It was fantastic! No one could tell it was the same room unless they had known from the beginning that it was. The walls were a beautiful, calming color, and the carpet was so soft! What a plus! Steve and Sam even went as far as to move the table in the room to how Peggy had mentioned she’d like it, piling many of their overflowing book collection onto it.

“Oh, it’s perfect!” Peggy said, eyes filling with tears of pure joy. Sam was standing closest to her, so he got caught up in a bone-crushing hug first. “Thank you, Sam. Thank you so much,” she said, and he smiled, hugging her back.

“Happy to help,” Sam said, cheeks tinting pink from her gratitude.

Next, Peggy grabbed Steve up in a hug, and he laughed, lifting her from the ground and holding her tightly.

“Thank you so much,” she murmured into his ear, pressing her damp cheek up against his.

“Anything for you,” Steve murmured back.

 

Later that week, the surveyor came back and Peggy couldn’t help but feel a little smug at her surprised face when she saw the basement. She couldn’t help but voice her admiration. Never in all her years had she seen such a young couple be so quick to make their home perfect for a child. She added this fact to her notes, promising the agency would be in touch soon.

And they were. Within two days, the agency called Steve, saying that they had found no discrepancies in any of the records they had been shown, and that, when Steve and Peggy were ready, they could come to the agency and meet the children. It suddenly became so real that finally, finally, they would have a child in their home. They went first thing on Monday morning.

“Are you nervous?” Steve asked Peggy, raising a brow and looking down at her.

“No,” she lied. Her voice did not waver, her hands did not shake, but the way her eyes were darting around, looking at everything, and how she constantly shifted her weight from leg to leg Steve knew that she was indeed nervous. “Are you?”

“No,” Steve said, smiling. And he was lying too. His hands did shake, his voice had a bit of a quiver to it, but he kept looking at Peggy and knew that everything would be okay. The pair had been together for so long that both knew the other was being untruthful.

“Steve and Margaret,” the adoption agent, Claire, they had been working with said with a warm smile as she entered the waiting area. “Are you ready?”

The two stood up quickly from their chairs. Steve’s hand flew to the front of his shirt, brushing away the wrinkles and pulling at it. Peggy fussed with her curls, making sure they looked just right as she cleared her throat. Claire just smiled at them, so fond of the couple in the weeks they had worked together. She knew they’d be great parents.

“Yes, I think we’re ready,” Peggy said, voice confident, with a smile. Her eyes still darted around and she reached for Steve’s hand, which was clammy, but gladly accepted by Steve.

“This way,” Claire said, leading the two back into the actual child-care part of the building. They were led into a huge room, roughly the size of an auditorium, with doors leading to what appeared to be a beautifully-kept, well stocked playground, complete with a sandbox. The large room was painted a lovely, calm, sky blue color, and there were children milling about everywhere. Each child looked well-fed, clean, and wore nice clothing. As Steve and Peggy walked through, they all smiled, most of them greeted them, while the others waved. The couple became old news as they walked through, and many of the children went back to playing.

Oh, and the toys. Dump trucks, monster trucks, race cars, and backhoes all were littered across a part of the room that seemed to be designated for such toys. Another part was dedicated to building train tracks and running both electric and manual toy trains. Dinosaurs took up another portion, both in action-figure and stuffed animal sized. Books were stacked everywhere along with boxes and boxes of crayons and markers. Many of the children’s creations were tacked to the wall, each child having a section of wall dedicated to their own artwork. Peggy noticed one child had much more than the others.

She searched through the sea of children, and suddenly, all was quiet, though no one stopped talking. Tucked in beside the wall was a small boy, he couldn’t have been older than 4, he was alone, but he did not look unhappy. He had long-ish brunet hair, and the greyest blue eyes Peggy had ever seen, even from across the room. He was hard at work on something, coloring, it looked like. His tiny pink tongue poked out of the corner of his mouth as he worked on something new.

She didn’t hear Steve say something to her. She didn’t hear Steve ask where she was going as she started to walk towards this child. Even years later, Peggy couldn’t explain the feeling. It was just something deep within her saying, “go.” So she did.

“Hello there,” she said kindly, crouching down beside the boy who was coloring. He turned and looked at her, and Peggy knew that she was done for in that instant. The boy smiled at her, showing her beautiful rosy cheeks and dimples.

“Hi!” he said happily, before turning back to his coloring. Peggy had to take a moment to catch her breath.

“What are you working on?” she asked him kindly.

“I draw outside,” he explained, holding up his picture to show her. Sure enough, he had drawn a tree, some clouds, and a sun. From what Peggy could tell, he was also working on a bed of tulips.

“That’s beautiful,” she said, smiling at him, and feeling a light blush on her cheek when her smile was returned. “What’s your name, dear?” she asked him.

“Bucky!” said the boy, and he grinned at her. “But my real name James,” he explained. “Bucky is a nicky-name.”

Peggy had no idea how she had known this boy was the one who had drawn all the pictures. It was right there along with the other things about this boy that she couldn’t explain.

“It’s nice to meet you, Bucky,” she smiled at him. “I’ve got a nickname too.” Bucky’s eyes widened and his mouth fell open, forming a small “o”.

“No!” he squealed in excitement. “What it!?”

“Peggy,” she responded, smiling warmly at him as a new wave of affection flooded over her. “And my real name is Margaret.”

Bucky blinked for a moment, considering the two names. And then, he smiled again.

“I like Peggy,” he said.

“So do I. May I color with you?” she asked, smiling as Bucky happily passed her a piece of unused paper. The two set to work then, quietly coloring.

From the middle of the room, Steve watched this interaction curiously.

“Who’s that little boy?” Steve asked softly, and Claire smiled.

“His name is James Buchanan Barnes, but he liked to be called Bucky,” she shrugged. “We don’t know where the nickname came from.”

“It’s adorable,” he said. “How old is he?”

“He’s almost four. His birthday will be in March,” Claire told him.

“Peg seems to like him,” Steve murmured. His heart swelled with affection as he saw Peggy so taken with a child. “How long has he been here?” Steve asked curiously.

“A few months,” Claire said. “His parents both died in a tragic accident,” she told him. “His parents didn’t have any family. Both of Bucky’s grandparents were immigrants, and even they had no family.” 

Steve frowned. This poor kid wasn’t even four years old and he lost both of his parents, had no other family, and was put in this place. Truth be told though, it was a very well-funded orphanage, according to the figures Steve had looked at online. Privately funded, good education, incredible staff. Everything an orphanage should be, but what not many of them were, which was sad.

“Mind if I go talk to him?” Steve asked, and Claire smiled again.

“Go ahead.”

Steve felt oddly nervous walking over to this boy and his wife. Maybe he was worried that Bucky wouldn’t like him after he seemed to get along so well with Peggy? He didn’t know. He sat down next to Peggy and she smiled at him.

“Bucky?” she said kindly.

“Huh?” said the little boy, not looking up from his drawing.

“I have someone I’d like for you to meet,” she said, and he looked up, smiling at Steve.

“Hi!” he said, giving Steve that same bright smile that he had given Peggy. She could tell by the look on Steve’s face that he was gone for this baby, too.

“Hi,” Steve said, smiling at him, a bit breathless.

“Who you?” Bucky asked curiously.

“I’m Steve,” he answered, heart swelling to immeasurable sizes as he looked at this boy.

“Hi Steve. I Bucky,” Bucky said, smiling even brighter.

“Peggy know Steve?”

“Yes,” Peggy said. “Steve is my husband. We’re married.” Bucky’s entire face lit up and he threw his hands in the air.

“Yay!” he said. “Have babies?” Bucky loved babies. Steve and Peggy shared a look. Steve was nervous a little, worrying that the mention of babies would make Peggy uncomfortable. But she was smiling brightly at him, eyes shining with excitement.

“No, actually darling,” Peggy told him. “Steve and I can’t have our own babies.”

“Sorry,” Bucky said, frowning a little bit, and looking sad.

“Don’t be sad,” Steve said quickly, smiling at the boy, who giggled in return, face turning a little pink.

“We actually have a question we’d like to ask you,” Peggy continued.

“Huh?”

“Would you like to be our baby?” Peggy asked. In the time she’d spent coloring and talking with Bucky, she thought this was the best course of action on how to ask him. It was important to the couple that they get the child’s permission, too. They didn’t want to take someone unwillingly.

“You baby?” Bucky asked, eyes wide in surprise. No one had ever asked him that before.

“Yes, our baby,” Steve said, his voice growing nervous. Bucky thought for a moment, little index finger poking his chin.

“I like peanut buttah sanwich and canbewwy joos,” he told them, eyes very serious.

“We can make that for you,” Peggy confirmed, nodding her head. Bucky smiled at her.

“You my mommy?” he asked her, and at this, the tears did spring in Peggy’s eyes, but she continued to smile.

“Yes, I would be your mommy if you’d like,” but before she was even finished, James was crawling into her lap and settling himself in. He looked at Steve then and held out a tiny little hand for him to take.

“You my daddy?” he asked Steve, who took his hand and who at this point had tears streaming down his cheeks.

“Yeah, if you wanted,” he said, and Bucky giggled.

“I want,” he confirmed.

The process to get Bucky was harder than Steve had anticipated. They had to go through even more home checks, make sure vaccinations were up to date, not to mention, get their home ready for a toddler. Luckily, their families and friends, who had been so great, pitched in. Sam helped paint Bucky’s room, who, after discussing it with his mommy and daddy, decided that he wanted it to be painted blue, “like daddy eyes.”

Peggy’s brother Michael, an excellent wood worker, had dressers and a nightstand as well as a tiny easel built for Bucky about a week after Peggy had called him to tearfully tell him the good news. He hadn’t even met Bucky yet, but he was so excited that his sister would finally have the family she wanted and deserved.

Angie and Peggy spent weeks picking out the theme for Bucky’s new room. Bucky liked tigers, he wouldn’t let them forget that they were his favorite. But he also liked robots, and for some reason, the number 6. With some crafty skill, Peggy and Angie managed to sew a beautiful tiger-striped bed spread for Bucky, complete with a quilt to go overtop which was a compilation of different pictures of tigers. Steve found an adorable tiger stuffie at the dollar store and placed it on Bucky’s pillow to tie the whole room together.

On the nightstand by Bucky’s bed, there was a picture of Peggy, Steve and Bucky, from the day that they’d decided to take him home. To Peggy’s dismay, there were not existing pictures of Bucky’s biological parents, and there wasn’t much known about them. But, being the woman that she was, Peggy wrote down everything she could find, learned it all, and was able to talk about them like they had been her old friends. She and Steve may be Bucky’s new guardians and parents, but she didn’t want Bucky to not know about his biological ones.

Sam had the best time picking out clothing for Bucky. Every time he’d go to the mall, or to the Supercenter, he’d come by Steve’s with a new cardigan, a new pair of pants, a new shirt, saying “Hey man, the kid had to have it.” And Angie was no better. Neither was Phil Coulson, Peggy and Steve’s colleague at the college, and one of Steve’s closest friends. Phil bought Bucky socks, in every color, in every design. Blue, pink, orange, tie-dye, tiger-striped, polka dotted, you name it, Phil bought it for Bucky. Angie was more partial to the shirts saying “I love my Auntie,” or “My Auntie is the best!” because although she and Peggy were just best friends, she had already been introduced to Bucky as his loving, loud, Auntie Ang.

Finally, the night before Valentine’s Day, Steve and Peggy prepared to go to bed for the last time without a baby in the house. To say that they would not miss these days would be an understatement; Steve and Peggy were all too willingly kicking those lonely days out the door.  


As they snuggled up under the warm sheets, Peggy as the little spoon, it was quiet. They were happy, they were content, and the next day, James Buchanan Barnes would become James Buchanan Rogers.

Valentine’s Day dawned bright and mild, unusual for the typical chill in upstate New York. The sun was out and Bucky insisted on wearing some of Peggy’s heart shaped sunglasses that were all too big for him on the car ride home. From that point on, Peggy knew she would be “that parent” who took millions of photos of her child, and it was at that moment that she realized she didn’t care, and that she’d take that title most proudly.

They walked through the foyer, Steve holding Bucky, Peggy holding his small backpack full of treasures.

“Well, here we are pal,” Steve said, kissing the boy’s dark hair. “Home sweet home.”

“Home?” Bucky asked, looking at Steve.

“Yes, baby, our home,” Peggy told him, and Bucky grinned down at her.

“Home.”

“It’s about time for lunch. What do you say?” Peggy asked, pulling her coat off and smiling at Bucky. “What are you hungry for?”

“Peanut buttah sanwich and cwanbewwy joos.”

**Author's Note:**

> did anyone else get teary eyed while reading this? i know i did. i'm a sap.


End file.
